February 6, 2013

{How to} make it as a screenwriter

Hope you enjoyed yesterday's interview with screenwriter Daniel Kunka. For all those aspiring writers out there, I've asked Daniel to share a bit of advice about writing and dedication to one's craft.

"If you want to be a writer, then you must write."

"You can't have one script or one draft of a script and hope that will be what makes your career. Successful writers have written ten scripts, they have done hundreds of drafts, they work at it every single day. It's their job."

"It's imperative that you read screenplays. There are plenty available on the internet and at bookstores. (Recent scripts worth checking out: Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, 21 Jump Street and Flight.)"

"Hollywood is very concept driven. It's about trying to find an idea that you can tell in as few words as possible."

"Before you start writing a script, you need to
know where it's going to start, and you really need to know where it's
going to end. Then it's all just connecting the dots."

"Writing the bigger, wider-audience, summer-type
movies involve a lot of familiarity and twists on familiarity. You want
to find something everyone knows but no one has ever seen before. So
it's a lot of trying to take really traditional concepts—a hero's quest, people falling in love, a father/son relationship—and trying to put them in a story that is unique."

"The meetings are worthless. The managers are worthless. Everything is worthless unless you have written a script, and it's good."

"The easiest way to get a manager? Write shit that's good."

"You have it love it. Because it's super hard, and it's not super fun and so there is other things can you be doing. Lucky for me, I like writing more than I like playing video games."